The Minister of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation Participates in the Inauguration of the Exhibition “40 Years of Diplomacy in Democracy. A Success Story” at the Casa de América

29/11/2018

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The Minister of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation, Josep Borrell, has participated today during the Inauguration of the exhibition “40 Years of Diplomacy in Democracy. A Success Story” at the auditorium at the Casa de América.

The exhibition, which was chaired by His Majesty the King and attended by almost all the Ministers of Foreign Affairs we have had since our transition to democracy, is part of the commemorative events scheduled by the powers of the State on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the approval of the 1978 Constitution (EC).

The purpose of these commemorative events is to recall the elaboration process of the Magna Carta, which is a direct descendant of the spirit of the transition, and to highlight the transforming potential of the constitutional provisions, which over the past forty years have covered the transition from an authoritarian system within international marginality to a full democracy, a social and democratic State of Law, based on the recognition of the plurality of our society and with the purpose to be one of the most relevant actors on the international scene.

If anything has changed over these last four decades, it is Spain’s international position. The internal changes sponsored by the EC made it essential to reformulate our role within the community of nations. Spain became fully integrated into its geographical and natural policy area and decisively and responsibly accepted its role in the international arena. It has been a remarkably successful story.

The exhibition “40 Years of Diplomacy in Democracy. A Success Story” has three basic purposes:

• Past. To recall the essential milestones of our recent foreign policy and show them as the result of a broad consensus among political and social forces, highlighting the key role that the Head of State played in the process of reincorporation to the world.

• Present. To certify the willingness of our foreign service to adapt to new challenges, underlining the incorporation of constitutional values to our external projection: human rights in a broad sense, equality, solidarity and the role of women. Issues of special interest such as cooperation for development, public diplomacy, digitalisation, the promotion of our interests by means of economic diplomacy, our cultural projection or our contribution to peace and stability in the world are also recalled. Likewise, it also considers citizens as the centre of our action, for instance, by means of the assistance and consular protection or through efforts regarding personal and material redeployment of our foreign service.

• Future. To stimulate a debate on the foreign policy that Spain needs today, once the major objectives have been met. For instance, to assess the image of Spain today and to rethink the role of Spain in an increasingly globalised and competitive world, with new opportunities and threats and with a profusion of powerful non-state actors.

Minister Josep Borrell's participation in this exhibition is structured in three activities:

a) Opening ceremony of the exhibition.

b) Exhibition “40 Years of Diplomacy in Democracy. A Success Story”, which consists of two parts: the great milestones of these 40 years in Spanish foreign policy and “The Foreign Service of the 21st Century, 14 faces, 14 voices”, in which, through personal stories, the most relevant areas of Spain's current foreign action are reviewed.

c) A series of colloquies, all under the same name, which shall assess our external projection and discuss Spain’s new foreign policy.